Watchdog Condemns 'War Crimes' By Hamas
Rocket attacks targeted civilians, rights group says

by Oakland Ross
Toronto Star
August 7, 2009

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/1365/watchdog-condemns-war-crimes-by-hamas

Palestinian rocket attacks on civilian targets in Israel are unlawful and constitute war crimes, an international humanitarian agency charged yesterday.

Hamas forces violated the laws of war both by firing rockets deliberately or indiscriminately at Israeli cities and by launching them from populated areas and endangering Gaza civilians, said Iain Levine, program director at New York-based Human Rights Watch.

"Hamas rocket attacks targeting Israeli civilians are unlawful and unjustifiable, and amount to war crimes."

The 31-page report rejects arguments used by Hamas and other Palestinian groups to defend the thousands of rockets they have fired at Israel since 2001.

"International law ... does not support these asserted justifications," said the report, dismissing Palestinian claims the rockets constitute a legitimate response to armed Israeli incursions into Gaza or justifiable resistance against Israel's continuing blockade of the narrow coastal strip.

"The absence of Israeli military forces in the areas struck by the rockets, as well as statements from the leaders of the Palestinian armed groups, indicate that the armed groups deliberately intended to strike Israeli civilians and civilian structures," the report said.

Among the world's largest and most influential humanitarian watchdog agencies, Human Rights Watch has in the past been scathingly critical of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, causing many Israelis to dismiss the organization as being biased against their country.

It is an open question whether yesterday's report, holding Hamas accountable for its abuses, will change many Israeli minds.

Palestinian rockets killed three Israeli civilians during a three-week Israeli military incursion into Gaza earlier this year.

They include Beber Vaknin, 58, killed while standing at the entrance to his apartment building near Gaza; Hani al-Mahdi, an Arab-Israeli construction worker; and Irit Sheetrit, a mother of four, struck and killed while driving her car.

In all, 24 Israelis have been killed by Palestinian rocket fire since 2001, according to Israeli statistics.

Human Rights Watch has already accused Israel of possible war crimes for its conduct of the Gaza offensive.

Yesterday, a Hamas spokesman dismissed the organization's criticism, calling the report "biased," according to the Associated Press.

Israel also has rejected international condemnation of its conduct of the Gaza offensive.

A United Nations panel under Judge Richard Goldstone of South Africa is currently probing both sides' conduct of the war.

The Human Rights Watch report blames Hamas and four other militant groups for endangering Palestinian lives as well as those of Israelis.

For example, Ali Abu Khusa, 5, and Sabbah Abu Khusa, 12, were killed in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza last Dec. 26, when a Palestinian rocket fell short of its target in Israel, a fairly common occurrence.

More than 1,300 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed during Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza that began Dec. 27, an operation aimed at stopping Palestinian rocket fire.

Located about a kilometre from northern Gaza, the Israeli town of Sderot has been especially hard hit. Residents typically receive only a 10-second warning, alerting them to take cover against an incoming rocket.

In all, more than 800,000 Israelis live within range of Palestinian rockets, which also include longer-range Grad-type missiles able to reach towns located as far as 40 kilometres from Gaza.

In the wake of Israel's incursion into Gaza earlier this year, Palestinian rocket attacks have largely subsided, in what amounts to an informal ceasefire between the two sides.

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